[Varanasi – 1 Hour After the Gates Opened]
Ashura sat on the temple steps, breathing like he'd run three marathons and then punched a god.
Smoke curled from the blade still clutched in his hand, though it flickered now, shrinking slowly back into a faint glow along his arm. His right shoulder felt like someone had set it on fire and then politely asked it to keep burning.
The cultists? Gone. Either vaporized or dragged into the Gate's collapsing energy.
The monsters? Dead. Though he could still hear their screams echo in the back of his skull like fading dreams.
And the tall man with the black eyes?
Gone.
No signs. No trace.
Only the Gate remained—its swirling form slowly condensing into a shard of pulsing red crystal hovering mid-air.
Ashura stared at it.
Was that a reward? A key? A trap?Why do I feel like it wants me to take it?
He reached out—and the second his fingers brushed it, the world turned inside out.
[Unknown Plane – The Crimson Realm]
A searing wind whipped across a desolate battlefield of broken ruins and blood-red skies. Time here didn't tick. It screamed.
Ashura stood there, alone.
Well... except for the 1,000 armored warriors encircling him.
Every one of them bore the same crimson tattoos. The same glowing weapons. The same eyes that remembered centuries of war.
And every one of them stared at him like he was their leader.
"Ashura-tar."
The name echoed like thunder.
One of the warriors—a woman with ash-blonde braids and obsidian armor—stepped forward and knelt.
"You've returned."
Ashura blinked. "Returned? What the hell is this place?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"The Crimson Realm. The Sanctum of the Gatekeepers. The last line of defense before the Outerverse breaks through."
Outerverse?
Sanctum?
Returned?
Ashura grabbed his head as memories surged again—more vivid this time.
A war against beings of pure void. Names in languages that melted human minds. Dimensions torn apart by something called The Devourer of Structure. And him—standing on the frontline, not as a confused teen with glowy arms…
But as a General.
As the last Gatekeeper born directly from the Ashura Lineage.
"You were sealed," the woman continued, rising to her feet. "Your soul was fragmented. Your body reborn in the human world."
"Why?"
"To hide you. From them."
"'Them' meaning…?"
A new voice echoed behind him. Calm. Smooth.
"The Breakers."
Ashura turned—and saw a man walking toward him, dressed in pristine white robes etched with constellations.
His face? Indistinct. As if light bent around it.
"You sealed the Gates yourself, Ashura-tar," the man said. "You gave up your name, your rank, your power—all to stop them from finding the Final Gate."
"And now that I've opened it...?"
"You've broken your own seal," the man said, eyes unreadable. "And they know you're alive."
[Back in the Temple – Real World]
Ashura gasped, jerking back into reality. His head slammed into the stone wall behind him.
He groaned. "Okay. Officially done with weird astral planes today."
The crystal shard floated for a second longer... then dissolved into sparks and sank into his palm.
New memory unlocked.Combat Trait: Gatekeeper's Echo — Weapon manifests faster. Recall time reduced. Energy burn minimized.
Awesome.But can it also come with a bottle of electrolytes and a massage?
Ashura got to his feet just as a familiar voice shouted from the distance.
"HEY! IDIOT!"
He turned—and saw Meera, the chaiwala's daughter who'd once threatened to stab him with a spoon for stealing samosas, sprinting toward him with a metal staff in hand and her backpack clinking with potions, scrolls, and—was that a freaking crossbow?
"Meera?! What are you doing here?"
She slid to a stop beside him, panting.
"I tracked your energy signature."
"You can do that?!"
"I'm in a WhatsApp group for low-level seers. Long story."
Ashura blinked. "Are you magic now?"
Meera pulled out a badge from her pocket. "Technically, I'm a provisional-level Diviner under the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs."
He squinted. "That sounds made-up."
"IT IS VERY REAL WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING GATE DEMONS!"
She punched his arm, hard.
"Ow!"
"That's for leaving without telling me! You almost got eaten by a Shadar-Kai mutant!"
"I'm sorry—wait, how do you even know what that is?"
"I read Gatekeeping for Dummies."
"You're kidding."
"Page 69. Weakness: Fire and sarcasm."
He blinked again. "...Okay, I actually believe you."
She sobered up suddenly and looked around the ruined temple.
"So... the rumors are true then," she whispered. "Three Gates. In one day. That hasn't happened since—"
Ashura nodded. "Since the Crimson War."
Meera stared. "You remember?"
He nodded again. "Not everything. But enough."
"Which means... you're not just a random kid with a glowing arm."
He looked out at the smoke still rising in the distance.
"I'm a Gatekeeper."
A deep rumble echoed across the sky.
Ashura turned slowly, dread pooling in his gut.
Another pillar of red light shot into the clouds, far beyond the city skyline.
The Fourth Gate just opened.
Ashura cracked his knuckles, the glow returning to his palm.
Meera sighed. "We're going to die, aren't we?"
Ashura grinned.
"Not today."
End of Chapter 3
🔮 Teasers – Chapter 4
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Ashura gets his first mission—a controlled Gate test (lol, like that'll go well).
A weird "mark" starts burning on his arm—could be a blessing, could be a curse.
We learn what the Bureau really does to rogue Awakened…